I finally decided to sign up for the Good Reads Reading Challenge. I generally like a challenge. I love reading. So it seems like it would be a natural step to join. I found myself, however, worrying about whether I could read as many books as I set out to. I worried about whether it would be embarrassing to fail. This morning as I saw that button on my Good Reads account, I thought of my students. How they feel about reading challenges. Some of them may love them. Some of them may dread them. While I can't change their feelings about this summer's challenge, I could at least take the plunge. So here I go, in the middle of July setting an arbitrary goal of 200 books for 2012. 


I realized that the additional benefit of declaring my goal is the incentive to remember to log in books that I have read. When I remember to log in books I don't usually take the time to review them. My reviews are more like notes to help me remember how I want to use the book. Occasionally a book will inspire me to write a review, but the lack of a review does not mean that I did not like it or that I was unenthusiastic about the book. I know that I spend time on social networking sites and I've learned to put limitations. I use Good Reads as a way to track my reading. It suffices at the moment. 


Want to see my progress? The widget on my sidebar is my goalkeeper. 

The Bolduc House Earthquake Exhibit

The Bolduc House Museum's exhibit to commemorate the New Madrid Earthquake of 1811 begins on December 16th. The thoughtful, varied ways they have chosen to commemorate the earthquake are intriguing and make me wish I lived closer so I could visit during the exhibit. 


The aspect of their commemoration that is close to my heart is the exhibit of Debbie Davidson's etegami. Etegami is an art form I have always admired and wanted to try. I had seen plenty of beautiful artwork in Japan, but I remember first identifying Etegami as an art form when I went to mail a postcard. The post office was a large one and had a etegami exhibit. Etegami art is striking. It is common to fill the page and spill over the sides. I feel a certain kinship to it as I feel like I spill over the sides quite a bit of the time. 


Debbie's work is remarkable. After the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster I found myself visiting her blog daily. She was a voice in those terrible days that followed that spoke of strength and unity and love. Her series Humanizing the Quake brought hope during a very fearful time. The images from Humanizing the Quake are on display at the Bolduc House Museum. The proceeds will assist those who have had to relocate after the disaster.


If the story ended there it would be enough. For me, there is more. My own response at the time seemed inadequate. Too far away. Too little. The poem I offered up was all I had to give. Debbie was inspired by it and (with my blessings) created an etegami. In fact she created two. This piece is part of the collection. So in my small way, I too, have a connection to the exhibit. 


We are all connected. We all make a difference. You never know how far your actions may ripple. 




Visit Debbie's blog Dosanko Debbie's Etegami Notebook and follow her on twitter @dosankodebbie

Our words take on a life of their own

I am reflecting on the fact that our words, once let free, take on a life of their own. Last year I wrote a poem during the Month of Poetry. When Japan suffered the great tragedy of having earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster I offered my poem up right here. 


Enter Deborah Davidson, Etegami artist based in northern Japan. Her artwork is beautiful, delicate and meaningful. I became a fan. Through some twist of fate, she read my blog and asked if she could make artwork of my  poem. I was delighted. Not only was the result beautiful, I had never seen my words through someone else's eyes. 


Months have passed and I received a comment from Deborah. Turns out she's part of a earthquake-related exhibit at The Bolduc House Museum in St. Genevieve, Mo. I'd never heard of the place. Her artwork will be for sale to raise money to relocate victims of the earthquake. She wanted to know if I would give permission for the image with a fragment of my poem to be used. My eyes misted over. Yes, a thousand times, Yes! What a beautiful thing to watch my words go out in support of this project. If you would like to see the announcement you can view it at:
http://hosted-p0.vresp.com/591095/a6771c7698/ARCHIVE


All this got me thinking of how one action leads to another. I wrote the poem during Month of Poetry so I really need to thank Kat Apel for the inspiration. I met Kat Apel through National Picture Book Writing Week and strengthened my correspondence with her through Picture Book Idea Month, so I guess I really should thank Paula Yoo and Tara Lazar. I found out about those events through NaNoWriMo from reading Paula Yoo's blog so it comes down to Paula again. And Paula, I have no idea how I started reading your blog, but it might have been from a link from Mitali Perkin's blog. 


These words of ours. We write them down. We cherish them. We raise them until they can go out into the world alone. We hope they will not be led astray by hucksters. We pray that they will reach their blissful without despair. From the cradle of an idea to the moment of graduation we love them. But at some point we set them free. 


And what a beautiful thing it is to see them bloom. To blossom. And to bring joy back to us in unexpected ways. 

Participate in Picture Book Month

This last six weeks have been all about picture books for me. Learning about them, reading them, evaluating them and trying my hand at writing them. So when I learned about Picture Book Month I wondered if I really had time to check this out as well. I thought I'd wait until December 1st, but my curiosity got the better of me. So glad it did. If you love picture books you'll want to take a visit to read all the great things these giants of the industry have to say about them. If you don't love picture books already, get over there and see what you are missing!

Guess I'll have to wait until January before I dig into those novels I've had my eye on.

Want to Write a Picture Book? Sign up for PiBoIdMo!

If you write picture books or have been thinking about giving it a try, check out PiBoIdMo. Brain Child of Tara Lazar, PiBoIdMo stands for Picture Book Idea Month. That's just what it is. Tara got tired of hearing novelists having all the fun in the month of November as they attacked their novels during NaNoWriMo. So she took matters into her own hands. The challenge of PiBoIdMo is to come up with an idea for a picture book for every day of November. You finish the month with 30 ideas to work on through the year .

Now that might sound like an easy thing to do if you haven't done it. Sure, some days the idea hits you over the head. Some days you are looking at the clock approaching midnight and your muse has left town and you have to turn to some other inspiration, like a dictionary.

This is an event that I look forward to each year. Great people have signed up for the event, Tara gives away prizes and inspiration abounds. Not only that, but you get this fabulous, funny badge for your blog created by the talented Bonnie Adamson.  It feels like homecoming weekend for picture bookies. Hope to see you there.

(Post also shared at my picture book blog, Picture Book Inspirations )

Why Do You Deserve to Win?

Over the past summer I enjoyed things I never had time for during the school year – sleeping in to 6:00 a.m., sitting in the park for hours and enjoying the breeze and reality t.v.

One show in particular has sparked my interest – Project Runway. I have a passion for fiber arts and this show expands my vision. While I watch the show with the purpose of exploring a passion, my librarian brain will kick in and one thing keeps nagging at me.

Imagine the scene: Three designers exhausted, yet exhilarated after their emotional runway shows during Olympus Fashion Week stand in the spotlight of The Runway. They stand before the judges who will tell them who will win an incredible, life changing career package. The judges deliver their impressions of the collections – both the good and the bad. Here is the moment that grabs me every time. One of the jusdges asks:

“Why do you deserve to win?”

A simple question. The question should be easy to answer for someone who believes in their passion. It should be easy for someone who has spent months putting together the collections. They have certainly had time to ponder the question as they sew. They have seen the work of the other competitors. They have worked with them closely and had opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the other two on the runway. It should be a piece of cake to say a few sentences that sum up their strengths and merits.

But they can’t.

For the most part they fumble. I’ve heard their responses. They run along these lines:

“Because I’ve wanted it since I was five years old.”
“Because I’ve come this far.”

“Because I’ll crumple up and die if I don’t.”

“Because I need the money.”

“Because this is my only chance to put out my own line.”

“Because I want it so badly I can taste it.”

These answers do not address the question. One wonders whether it is the pressure, the lack of sleep, the intense emotional punch of the experience that throws them off course. I know I couldn’t survive their schedule. Still, could it be that they are not prepared to explain themselves?

As librarians and educators preparing our students for the 21^st century these answers make me feel a recommitment to teaching children skills to help them present themselves so that when they are asked “Why should you win?” the answer has more to do with assessing their achievements and little to do with desires and feelings. While feelings and desires drive us to learn, grow and develop ourselves, they are not a great persuasive argument for landing a job, an award or a prize.

Those designers who substituted their feelings for a carefully polished artist’s statement, lost the opportunity to sell themselves and make the judges see their vision.

Need ideas and resources for writing your artist statement? There are two resources I recommend. I’d rather be in the Studio!: The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self Promotion by Alyson B. Stanfield is chock full of insightful, practical information about artist promotion that can be put into motion. Stanfield is active on twitter at @abstanfield and runs workshops through her blog.

Another great resource is Writing the Artist Statement by Ariane Goodwin. This is a very different book. More introspective, almost meditative, the book is a set of writing exercises designed to help the artist to understand their work before writing the statement.

Both of these books have inspired my thinking. I hope you will find them helpful as well.

So you have done a great job doing whatever you do. Why do you deserve to win?

Mock Caldecott Election Thoughts on Picture Book Inspirations

Summer always seems to be a time I think I'll do non-stop blogging and get my posts straightened out for the fall. The reality is that I seem to think of new directions and find new distractions to keep me from posting. September is a blur with the beginning of school. October is when it settles down and I start up again. I'll try to remember that next year.


Meanwhile, I will be posting my process, progress and thoughts about running a Mock Caldecott Election on the new picture book only blog I started earlier this year. If you care to jump over there, my thoughts about running the same program, but giving it a twist are here at Picture Book Inspirations:


 http://picturebookinspirations.blogspot.com/2011/10/picture-books-standards-and-mock.html

Hope I'll see you there.